Lions
by cosmicpenguinn
Summary: Just as he was about to approach a group of kids, he saw one boy slightly older than him playing all by himself with some toys. Keith felt he should go try to befriend the boy that was alone instead of befriending kids that were already in groups. [Sheith]


_**A/N:**_ _So for some reason I could only write sheith if it's an au? All well, when I got the idea for this one I couldn't resist, so have some sheith kiddies playing in the park together. I hope you like it as much as I do! :D_

During the weekend, Keith's mother liked to bring him to the park to interact with the other kids that were there. Being the bubbly kid that he was, Keith was eager to make new friends. After arriving at the park, Keith's mother took a seat on the bench, chatting with the other parents as Keith took off to play on the playground.

The boy looked around in hopes of making a new friend, but felt a bit apprehensive once he saw most of the children were already in their own groups. Just as he was about to approach a group, he saw one boy slightly older than him playing all by himself with some toys. Keith felt he should go try to befriend the boy that was alone instead of befriending kids that were already in groups.

Keith eagerly ran over to the lonely boy with a smile on his face, "Hey there!"

The boy was startled by Keith's abrupt appearance, "Hello."

"Do you mind if I join you?" Keith asked.

"Not at all," The boy felt a smile tugging on his face, and Keith could tell he was happy to have some company.

"My name is Keith! What's yours?"

"My name is Takashi, but my family calls me Shiro."

"Oh that's such a cool name! Nice to meet you, Shiro!"

"It's nice to meet you too, Keith."

The two shared a smile, shaking each others hands. Keith plopped down next to Shiro, looking over at the toys that Shiro had been playing with. There were five lions; a blue one, a red one, a yellow one, a green one, and the last one, currently in Shiro's hand, was a black one.

"Wow, I love your toy lions! They're so cool!"

Shiro couldn't help but laugh, "Thank you, my dad bought them for me as a birthday gift. Would you like to play with them with me?"

Keith's eyes were wide, and then his whole face lit up with a smile, "Of course! How could I resist!"

The two played together with the toys for hours, creating different scenarios and making adorable sound effects for each of the lions. Keith was having a wonderful time, and he was glad that he approached the lonely kid rather than trying to make friends with the kids already in their own groups.

Sadly, all good times must come to an end. The sun was beginning to set, and Keith could hear his mother calling for him.

"Aww, shoot! I was having such a good time!" Keith frowned with a pout.

Shiro giggled, "I'm sure we'll hang out again soon. Does next Saturday sound good to you?"

Keith's face immediately lit up at the offer, nodding his head eagerly, "Yeah, yeah!"

"Next Saturday it is then!" Shiro smiled.

"It was nice to meet you, Shiro! See you next weekend!" Keith waved to his new friend as he began to walk away.

"See you, Keith!" Shiro waved back, watching as Keith ran to his mother.

When next Saturday came around, Keith was eager to make it back to the park to see his new friend. Sure enough, Shiro was sitting in the same spot as last time, playing with all five of his lions. Spending time with Shiro at the park became a regular thing for Keith, lasting for months and months. The two even began to hang out more than just on Saturdays, spending some days during the week at either Keith's or Shiro's home. They became inseparable by that point, as they had planned to sleep over one or the other's home at least once every other week. Keith could easily admit that bringing Shiro into his life was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Unfortunately, Keith didn't ever consider what would happen if all of this were to come to an abrupt end. The idea was forced to become a reality one night during a sleep over at Keith's house.

"You're moving?!" Keith exclaimed.

Shiro nodded sadly, "My dad found a new job in the city, so we have to move."

Keith didn't know what to say, what to think. What could he do? His best friend was moving away. He had spent so much time with Shiro, he couldn't imagine what life would be like without him. Just thinking about a life without Shiro made him want to cry. So that's exactly what he did.

"Please don't cry, Keith," Shiro said quietly, guilt evident in his voice. He didn't want to leave his best friend either, but he didn't exactly have a choice in the matter.

"But I don't want you to go! I want you to stay!" Keith sobbed loudly, tears pouring down his cheeks.

Shiro wrapped his arms around the boy, bringing him into a tight hug, tears forming in his own eyes, "I want to stay too, Keith. But I don't have a choice. I have to go."

Keith sniffled, wiping his tears away, "I'm gonna miss you so much, Shiro."

"I'll miss you too, Keith." Shiro whispered.

Keith pulled away from the embrace, "We'll just have to make this the best sleepover ever!"

Shiro nodded, "Yeah! Let's do it!"

The two stayed up as late as they possibly could, doing everything that came to mind. Watching movies, eating snacks, playing with toys. It was in this moment that Keith was grateful for having parents that were heavy sleepers. The two crashed at some point past midnight, but they both definitely agreed that it truly was the best sleepover.

The next morning, Shiro's parents arrived to pick up their son. It would be the last time that Keith would get to see Shiro, as Shiro had to spend the next few days packing up his belongings.

Before Shiro left, the two shared the tightest embrace they ever had.

"I'm really gonna miss you, Shiro." Keith felt tears prick in the corners of his eyes, but tried his best to keep the tears at bay.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Keith," Shiro gave him a sad smile. He turned to walk down the driveway and made it to the end before remembering that he had forgotten something and quickly ran back to Keith, "I almost forgot!"

"What is it?" Keith asked, still trying his hardest to not burst into tears.

Shiro was rummaging through his backpack before pulling out a toy that Keith immediately recognized, "Here, I want you to have this."

Keith's eyes were wide, small, shaky hands reaching out to grab the toy, "Your red lion? Are you sure about this?"

Shiro nodded, "Of course, I want you to hold onto it, that way you'll have something to remember me by."

Keith couldn't hold them back anymore as tears rolled down his cheeks, "Th-Thank you, Shiro. I'll never forget you!"

Shiro pulled Keith into a quick hug, "I'll never forget you either."

After some time had passed, Shiro pulled away from the hug. He took his time walking to the end of the driveway, waving to Keith as he got into his parent's car. Keith waved back, watching as the car began to drive away. He quickly ran down the driveway, waving to Shiro until he could no longer see the car.

That night, Keith was eager to go to bed, as he had used up his energy for the day by crying about his best friend moving away. He placed the lion onto his night stand before shutting off the light and hopping into bed. After his mother had tucked him in and given him a goodnight kiss, Keith stared at the red lion on the stand. He thought about reuniting with his friend in the future as he waited for sleep to come.

"I know we'll meet again soon," Keith murmured to himself before he fell asleep, dreaming about the times he spent with his best friend.

 _ **A/N:**_ _I finished this fic around 1 am and I didn't proof read it at all. I'm posting it now bc I'll be busy today and I wanted to get this up now rather than waiting. I'm sure there's plenty of typos so I apologize for that, I plan on going back at some point to edit this and possibly add more. Anywho, thanks for reading! Come scream sheith to me over on tumblr! :D_


End file.
